Amazon Confirms Advertising Will Become a 'Meaningful' Part of Its Business (thedrum.com)

An anonymous reader shares a report: Amazon's advertising business has loomed quietly in the digital media space for some time but the online behemoth has given the clearest indication yet that it will now come to the fore. Advertisers and agencies have been hearing Amazon-sized footsteps for some time but until now the business has erred away from revealing too much. However, on its latest earnings call Amazon was asked by one analyst as to whether advertising could become a more "meaningful part of the business" over the near to mid-term. "It's pretty early in the days with advertising but we're very pleased with the team we have and the results," said Amazon's chief financial officer Brian Olsavsky in response to another analyst query. "Our goal is to be helpful to consumers and enhance their shopping or their viewing experience with targeted recommendations, and we think a lot of the information we have and preferences of customers and recommendations help us do that for customers."

Comments

That's fine.

[Anonymous Coward]

It just means that I may become a less meaningful part of their business. That's their choice to make.

Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey Jill, looking a little portly today! Why not tuck that gut into a SPANX BRAND girdle!
Or maybe you're fat and proud? How about I start a weekly subscription for KRAFT SHREDDED CHEESE MEXICAN BLEND? Free delivery with your PRIME MEMBERSHIP.

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[__aaclcg7560]

Or maybe you're fat and proud?

I ordered a three-month supply of Cliff Bars, Power Bars and Fiber One bars. Not everything a fat person eat is unhealthy.

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[Anonymous Coward]

Clif bars

Carbs. Sugar.

Power Bars

Carbs. Sugar.

Fiber One bars

Carbs. Sugar.

Why don't you just stop denying it, fatass: You're as addicted to carbs and sugar as any other fat-fuck, and you're fooling yourself into thinking those are 'healthier'; they're not, you're just FAT.

Then he washes it all down with a 2-liter bottle of soda

Just give up and shovel down whole pizzas and boxes of cookies at a time, you know you want to! Disgusting. Fat. Piece. Of. Shit.

Re: Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[Anonymous Coward]

LOLLLLLLLL. I think someone is projecting.

I don't care what all the old timers say. This place still has it.

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[__aaclcg7560]

You're as addicted to carbs and sugar as any other fat-fuck, and you're fooling yourself into thinking those are 'healthier';

I'm on a low-carb diet. I eat ~150 grams of carbs per day. Two bars a day is less than half my carbs for the day.

Just give up and shovel down whole pizzas and boxes of cookies at a time, you know you want to!

Why would I want eat like a skinny person?

Re: Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[__aaclcg7560]

LOLLLLLLLL. I think someone is projecting.

Casey Neistat had a video on why asshats tease those who have passion to change their lives. Haters and doubters fear successful people. Nothing is more worse than a successful fat person.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iQ8BGw13So

I don't care what all the old timers say. This place still has it.

I haven't been abused like this since... 1999.

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[Anonymous Coward]

Dude, 150 grams/day is NOT a low-carb diet.

I try to keep it under 50. My breakfast (eggs, bacon) had zero carbs. Lunch will have 16g carbs. Since my blood sugar was low this morning, and because it's Friday, I splurged and ate a donut. Dinner will probably be in the 30-45 range, so the donut definitely puts me over for the day (next couple of days, maybe.)

Your mileage may vary, but if you're on Slashdot I'm guessing you're not dong manual labor all day. ;)

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[__aaclcg7560]

Dude, 150 grams/day is NOT a low-carb diet.

Low-carb diets are between 50 to 150 grams of carbs per day. The average person eats 225 to 325 grams of carbs per day.

http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/150-carbs-per-day-still-considered-low-carb-7754.html

Your mileage may vary, but if you're on Slashdot I'm guessing you're not dong manual labor all day. ;)

Pushing a trackball all day is hard work. ;).

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[Anonymous Coward]

If you're a fat-ass and trying to lose weight, then here's how many of each you should order to stock up a three month supply:

Cliff Bars: 0
Power Bars: 0
Fiber One bars: 0

If you want to lose weight and get healthier, stop eating that processed shit that's full of nothing but quick-digesting carbs and processed additives. Instead, eat as many fresh vegetables as you want, eat lean proteins, and eat moderate amounts of fresh fruit. Wash it all down with lots of water, and an occasional coffee, tea, or alcoholic beverage. Then, go do something that keeps you active for at least an hour a day, and try to work in a half hour of weightlifting three or four days a week.

Stop pretending that Cliff Bars and the like are healthy - they're not. These bars are intended for consumption during long-duration athletic events and activities, where you're expending vast amounts of energy and need a dense, easily digested source of energy to help keep your body performing. Sitting on your ass in the basement waiting for scripts to run doesn't qualify, no matter HOW long a walk it is to the vending machines.

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[Anonymous Coward]

Two bars a day is less than half my carbs for the day.

If that's your definition of low-carb, you'd be better off eating two snicker's bars, then. Snickers bars have fewer calories, and fewer carbs. Your Clif bar is a candy bar that they've found a way to make you feel good about eating, because it has a little more fiber and a little more protein. There are dozens of better ways to get more fiber and more protein, without all the useless carbs and sugar of a Clif bar.

There is literally NO medically sound diet and nutritional advice that will tell you that eating a couple clif bars a day is a good way to eat a low-carb diet.

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[__aaclcg7560]

Then, go do something that keeps you active for at least an hour a day, and try to work in a half hour of weightlifting three or four days a week.

I want to get slimmer, not bigger.

Sitting on your ass in the basement waiting for scripts to run doesn't qualify [...]

My second-story office has a view that overlooks a roofline.

https://twitter.com/cdreimer/status/858056822648750080/photo/1

[...] no matter HOW long a walk it is to the vending machines.

Why would I buy food out of the vending machine? That's a waste of money.

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[__aaclcg7560]

If that's your definition of low-carb, you'd be better off eating two snicker's bars, then. Snickers bars have fewer calories, and fewer carbs.

Let's compare the labels.

Snicker's Bar (2x): 500 calories, 24g total fat, 9g sat fat, 54g sugars, 240mg sodium.
Cliff Bar/Fiber One: 390 calories, 9.5g total fat, 3.5g sat fat, 30g sugars, 270mg sodium.

The Cliff Bar/Fiber One combo has fewer calories, fewer total fat, fewer saturated fat, fewer sugars but more salt than a pair of Snickers.

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[Anonymous Coward]

I want to get slimmer, not bigger.

Go read about physiology and nutrition, then. Because one of the best ways to lose weight and keep it off is to build muscle by doing weight-bearing exercises. Adding muscle raises your base metabolic rate, which means that just sitting on your ass, you're still burning more calories. Strictly cardio work will lean you out, often at the cost of losing lean tissue as well - which means your base metabolic rate actually falls, which means it's HARDER to lose weight & keep it off after you do a shitload of cardio.

So I say again - if you want to lose weight and get healthier, do something that keeps you active at least an hour a day - even if it's a brisk walk. Lift weights for 30 minutes a few times a week - exercises that incorporate a large section of your body - squats, deadlifts, chest & shoulder presses, leg press, rows & back extensions, etc. are the best. Eat lots of veggies, moderate fruits, and plenty of lean protein. Drink about twice as much water as you think you need (helps you feel full, and also people often confuse thirst with hunger), and have a little coffee, tea, or alcohol now and then.

Why would I buy food out of the vending machine? That's a waste of money.

So is buying a three month supply of Clif, Power, and Fiber One bars. But you seemed proud enough of it to tell us all that you ordered them, so I can only conclude that you don't care what sort of garbage you put in your body. From there, it's a short stretch to imagine that the Cheetos vending machine in your office has your finger prints (and other, nastier secretions) all over it.

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[__aaclcg7560]

Because one of the best ways to lose weight and keep it off is to build muscle by doing weight-bearing exercises.

Been there, done that. Over ten years ago, I lifted weights for a year and went from 325 pounds to 375 pounds. Considering how hard it was to find 4XL shirts, I stopped lifting weights, switched to cardio, dropped to 350 pounds, and went back to 2XL shirts. I still have the muscle mass. That's why I look like a football player and not a butterball. Prior to that I rode my bike 20 miles a day for three years to get a restaurant job.

From there, it's a short stretch to imagine that the Cheetos vending machine in your office has your finger prints (and other, nastier secretions) all over it.

From there you go back to your stereotype of fat people. How stupid can you be?

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[Anonymous Coward]

Sure - except 2/3 of what you're saying you eat (Power Bars and Clif Bars) have more calories, more carbs, and more sodium than a snickers bar. The Fiber One is marginally more "healthy," but still contains a shitload of processed crap and sugar that you simply don't need, and would be better off without.

The point remains: you'd be better off replacing that shit with a snickers - it'd taste better, and would be better for you nutritionally. Have a Snickers and a Fiber one, and your "low carb" diet is more low-carb.

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[__aaclcg7560]

Sure - except 2/3 of what you're saying you eat (Power Bars and Clif Bars) have more calories, more carbs, and more sodium than a snickers bar.

Before you were recommending TWO Snickers. After I compared the labels and proved that my combo is better than your combo, you're now recommending ONE Snickers.

I suggest you stop talking out of your ass and stop giving nutritional advice to fat people.

Re: Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't worry about the Trolls man.

Just do your thing and don't worry about what the twats on /. think.

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[Anonymous Coward]

I didn't really read much of the previous shit you wrote, but are you saying protein bars are a good way to lose weight? Are you a moron of some kind - those are for gaining wait, for people who lift. Oh wait - just clicked your homepage link. You're just a stupid fat fuck who knows nothing about diet or nutrition.

Sorry, but your opinion on nutrition and diet is like the opinion of a homeless nigjer on poltics. You're both just people we laugh at. Care to share more of your thoughts ya fat unskilled retard? You want to lose weight - smoke some crack.

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[Anonymous Coward]

Before you were recommending TWO Snickers.

No, you fucking mong, I was recommending that you not eat Clif bars, Power Bars, or Fiber One bars, because at least 2 of those three are objectively worse for you than a fucking snickers bar - you're the one who claimed you ate two bars a day. If you eat (Clif | Power) + Fiber, then that is *slightly* less shitty than 2 snickers bars, yes. But if you eat (Clif | Power) + (Clif | Power), that is, again, objectively worse for you than two snickers bars.

My *recommendation*, in case you were dropped on your head as a baby and can't reading comprehension, was that you ELIMINATE the power bars, clif bars, and fiber one bars, because they are absolute garbage nutrition for anybody trying to lose weight, and instead, I recommended that you eat fresh vegetables, moderate amounts of fresh fruit, and plenty of lean protein. The "have two snickers bars instead" comment was what is commonly known as sarcasm, pointing out that your energy bar consumption is as bad as, if not worse than, eating candy bars.

If you're a marathoner, or some other endurance athlete, then fine, eat an energy bar on race day. But don't pretend that you, as a sedentary fatass, are getting any significant weight loss benefit out of eating energy bars.

I suggest you stop talking out of your ass and stop giving nutritional advice to fat people.

I'll make a deal with you: I'll stop giving nutritional advice to fat people just as soon as you stop being fat. I think I'm pretty safe to continue giving advice until you're dead of a massive coronary.

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[Anonymous Coward]

I lifted weights for a year and went from 325 pounds to 375 pounds.

Pro tip: that wasn't muscle mass you gained.

I stopped lifting weights, switched to cardio, dropped to 350 pounds,

So you're saying you started working out, had a net gain of 25 pounds from your original weight of 325, and then just gave up and decided to stay a fat fuck? That extra weight you put on is largely NOT muscle mass. NOBODY gains 50 pounds of muscle in a year, it is physiologically impossible.

That's why I look like a football player and not a butterball.

Uh... I have some bad new for you champ - you might want to sit down.

Ready?

You look like a butterball, not a football player.

From there you go back to your stereotype of fat people.

Fat people are, barring incredibly small numbers of genetic freaks who have a metabolism so slow they gain weight eating celery, fat because they are unwilling or unable to make the lifestyle changes they need to not be fat. It really is that simple, friend. Exercise more, eat less, and eat healthier - you will lose the fat. If you choose not to do that, then for all the hand-wringing you do about how hard it is to lose weight, and how hard it is to be stereotyped, you are CHOOSING to remain fat. Losing weight is not hard to figure out how to do, but fat people are simply unwilling to make the commitment to the lifestyle changes required. Is that "stereotyping"? No, it's "facts." Want to lose weight? Go spend a year doing the following:

Eat:
- lots of fresh vegetables. That should easily be 2/3 to 3/4 of the volume of food you take in.
- a moderate amount of fresh fruit. One or two pieces a day, preferably ones high in fiber and lower in sugar.
- reasonable amounts of good protein - fresh, lean cuts of real meat. Hot dogs don't count. Cold cuts don't count. Jerky doesn't count.
- healthier fats - coconut oil, olive oil, avocados, omega-3's and omega-6's.
- an occasional treat. There's nothing wrong with having a piece of cake now and then. Just don't make it a fucking food group, and have a small portion.

Drink:
- a lot of water. Twice as much as you think you need is a good start. Yes, you'll piss a lot. Get used to it.
- have some tea and/or coffee - preferably without sugar or milk.

Exercise:
- do something that raises your heart rate and keeps it elevated for an hour a day.
- do something that lets you build muscle for a half hour every other day.

Sleep:
- Get plenty of sleep - shoot for 6-8 hours a night.

That's it. Do those things, and you *will* lose weight. Fat people whining about how hard it is to lose fat are simply unwilling to make the lifestyle changes required. And make no mistake - these are *lifestyle* changes. Not short term fixes. You got fat by living the way you do. The only way you'll get thinner is by changing the way of life that made you fat.

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[__aaclcg7560]

Oh wait - just clicked your homepage link.

There are two kinds of people on Slashdot: those who visit my website, see my picture and call me a fat fuck, and everyone else.

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[__aaclcg7560]

The "have two snickers bars instead" comment was what is commonly known as sarcasm, pointing out that your energy bar consumption is as bad as, if not worse than, eating candy bars.

Are you the asshat who told me that I need a bowl of candy to stay on the treadmill? I didn't see a bowl candy at morning working at the gym.

https://twitter.com/cdreimer/status/858405712317210624

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[__aaclcg7560]

Fat people whining about how hard it is to lose fat are simply unwilling to make the lifestyle changes required.

I eat less than most skinny people. I work out more than most skinny people. I still get lectured by skinny people who are indignant that I accepted being big as a normal part of my life instead of wallowing in self-piety and playing the victim game.

You got fat by living the way you do.

No, my genetics chose that I should be fat. My bone structure is three times bigger than my mother's and twice as big as my father's. I had a sixth-grade principal who called them in for a conference because he was going to shame them for having a fat kid. Except he was shocked to discover that my parents were skinny as can be and made for an awkward meeting. A half-dozen school-ordered blood tests by specialist failed to resolve this mystery. It wasn't until after my mother passed away that I came across family photos from the 1900's that I realized that I wasn't the only big person in the family.

Re: Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[__aaclcg7560]

Just do your thing and don't worry about what the twats on /. think.

I'm just playing with the trolls. Self-righteous skinny people lecturing on weight loss are a funny bunch.

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[Anonymous Coward]

fat unintelligent unsuccessful boring mentally-diseased and apparently illiterate happy-pill-popping clown loser who tries to lose weight by eating weight gain bars. no one called you a fat fuck you fat stupid fuck.

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[Anonymous Coward]

holy fucking shit. is this like a thing with you? you take something other people would be ashamed of and brag about it? you're on the treadmill for 20 fucking minutes and you've gone less than a mile? I run a full mile under 6 minutes. you can walk it in 10. my 85 year old gramma can walk it in 20.

it takes you fat stupid lazy ass a half fucking hour to walk 1 mile. And that's during your workout time. Normal walking - do you take a full hour for that mile or just ride your fucking scooter.

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[__aaclcg7560]

you take something other people would be ashamed of and brag about it?

What it is that I'm supposed to be ashamed of?

my 85 year old gramma can walk it in 20

Take another look at the treadmill picture. I'm walking 3 MPH on a 3% incline, which simulates the "intensity" of running. I doubt your gramma can do that without falling off and breaking her hip.

http://www.runnersworld.com/ask-coach-jenny/what-incline-should-i-use-on-my-treadmill

Normal walking - do you take a full hour for that mile or just ride your fucking scooter.

Takes me 30 minutes to walk a mile at my regular pace or 15 minutes if I'm in a hurry to catch the express bus. That's walking, not running. I don't want to end up like those skinny guys hobbling around after knee surgery because they had to show off at basketball.

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[__aaclcg7560]

no one called you a fat fuck you fat stupid fuck.

How little do you know your fellow asshats. Based on the lack of capitalization, I think the last comment link is yours.

https://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=8942041&cid=51871271
https://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=9149275&cid=52174651
https://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=9149275&cid=52178831
https://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=9149275&cid=52173709
https://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10264419&cid=53893915
https://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10523405&cid=54291747

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[Anonymous Coward]

Jesus Christ do I hate fat fucks. There is always some reason why they can't lose weight, and it's a miracle! Calories in - calories out doesn't apply to them!

If you really are burning lots of calories and eating very few, well congratulations you have just done the impossible. Otherwise, just take what you currently eat, and eat a bit less.

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[Anonymous Coward]

wow that's stupid. alright:
when you say people either call you a fat fuck or they don't in reply to a comment, one would expect that comment to say you're a fat fuck. it did not. your monkey brain decides that instead of being wrong, you're going to redefine the facts so you're right.

when you're late to your pc cleaning job at google and your boss says "you're not on time" - did you tell him you are on time, yesterday? maybe that's why you were fired.

as far as caps, I'm not going to actually click any of your links, but oh boy... you think all the people who don't use caps here are the same person. this is that retard gene again. newsflash - it's everyone on the phone who has autocomplete/correct disabled. like most people in it and on it who write code.

what. a . fucking; moron. CHEESH. see - caps. I'm a different person. BAM.

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[Anonymous Coward]

What are you not getting here Sherlock? You are supposed to be ashamed of taking 20 minutes to walk 0.85 miles on a 3% incline. Because this is a super leisurely pace even for old people, and you're touting that as "working out." Guess what? Leisurely walking does not count as working out. And no - a 3% slope does not "simulate running" - it's something most people barely notice. You know, when we walk outside down the street and the ground goes up and down.

You don't walk faster or run because you're worried about knee surgery that professional athletes need? They don't get that from jogging for an hour. That get that after 20 years of running 20 miles a day at under 6 minutes per mile. You're not an athlete. You're not even an average human being.

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow - he's gone full Cartman. You're not fat. You're just big-boned. That neck chin the size of a small dog on your face - that's just your big bones. Here's your mystery resolved without a blood test. Don't fucking eat so much and you won't be fat. I have about 10% body fat. 170/6ft. You? I bet your body fat is my weight.

Re: Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah. We should all listen to fat people for diet advice. That is clearly the way to go. No one is lecturing you by the way. Plenty of people making fun of you though. People making fun of you must be trolls. It couldn't be that you write some ridiculously stupid shit. It's clearly not that. They're just trolls trolling this site.

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah - don't want to end up doing something unhealthy like jog for half an hour or see your dick over your belly. Insulin shock during a heart attack while taking a shit is definitely the way to go for you. While waiting for a script to finish of course.

You think a basketball player pushing himself to the max at a game is about the same as jogging a 10 minute mile? I hate to break it to you, they run their mile in a little over 5. How drugged up out of your mind do you have to be to convince yourself a speed of over 3mph is bad for your knees. Holy dumb shit fatman.

You know what? Walking is an impact activity as well, and not just the knees - your spine. Better get yourself a scooter. With your salary I'm assuming you mostly shop at Walmart. The scooter will get you to Walmart so you can pick up your candy bars and prozac. Just ride that bitch up and down the street y'all - giant neck-chin flopping in the wind.

Re: Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[Anonymous Coward]

Being repeatedly shit all over is called playing with the trolls now. Newsflash - the people shitting on you are not trolls. They genuinely find you a fat ugly retard and are genuinely insulting you. A troll makes shit up - that's why it's called trolling. Someone making up a valid point about your sad sad life is not a troll. They're what we call the society of normal people. Ones who can accomplish things by doing actual things instead of lowering the bar for themselves.

Whatever keeps you off that ledge though.

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[__aaclcg7560]

You are supposed to be ashamed of taking 20 minutes to walk 0.85 miles on a 3% incline.

Really? I'm supposed to be ashamed of my workout? Excuse me... ROFL...

You don't walk faster or run because you're worried about knee surgery that professional athletes need?

I'm not talking about professional basketball players. I'm talking about skinny white guys who pushed each other at basketball harder, get hurt, hobble around like veterans, and telling everyone how great they were before they got crippled for life. These are the same guys who scream like a pregnant woman while working out at the gym.

You're not even an average human being.

Thank God!

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[Anonymous Coward]

I eat less than most skinny people

Doubtful, but possible - when you lose weight, your body can react by lowering your base metabolic rate. In other words, if you go from 375 to 300, your BMR will usually be *lower* than the BMR of someone who never went up to 375, and currently weighs 300. Net result is that if you want to lose all that fat, you have to: eat fewer calories, work out more to burn more calories on top of your BMR, or build muscle to raise your BMR (or some combination of all three of those).

What this does NOT mean is that your excess fat is somehow magically healthy, or good for you, or natural - your body is trying to preserve its excess store of calories that you're trying to strip away. So you have a choice: work harder at stripping it away, or remain a lazy, fat slob.

My bone structure is three times bigger than my mother's and twice as big as my father's.

"Big boned." heh. I guess you believe that 90% of that body weight you're carrying around is actually lean muscle, huh? Ever looked at a skeleton? Tell me, which bone gives you triple chins? Which bone gives you the pack of hot dogs on the back of your neck? Which bone gives you thighs that are probably as big around as an average woman's waist? Which bone makes your belly look like you swallowed an inflated beach ball? Hint: there's no bone for ANY of those conditions.

Except he was shocked to discover that my parents were skinny as can be and made for an awkward meeting.

Why? Is there some genetic rule that says "skinny people can't have fat kids"? If they let you shovel food into yourself and don't make you get exercise, that's not genetics - that IS bad parenting.

A half-dozen school-ordered blood tests by specialist failed to resolve this mystery.

Right, because there is no blood test to screen for "sedentary kid who eats too much and gets too little exercise." That's why nothing showed up. All of the "genetics" and "just big boned" talk is bullshit your mom fed you to make you feel better about yourself.

It wasn't until after my mother passed away that I came across family photos from the 1900's that I realized that I wasn't the only big person in the family.

Right, fat kid discovers there have been other fat kids in his family. Kid is shocked and amazed, and concludes that it must be some double-recessive mutant gene that makes him fat, not his lifestyle choices.

I'm there with you bro, for sure.

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[__aaclcg7560]

So you have a choice: work harder at stripping it away, or remain a lazy, fat slob.

I'm going to continue what I've always done: stick to my diet, continue to exercise, make changes where necessary, and I don't listen to the asshats.

If they let you shovel food into yourself and don't make you get exercise, that's not genetics - that IS bad parenting.

I ate the exact same food that my parents' ate. My older brother is skinny and he ate the same food as I did. But he weighed five pounds at birth. I weighed ten pounds at birth.

All of the "genetics" and "just big boned" talk is bullshit your mom fed you to make you feel better about yourself.

My mother frequently told me that she would have aborted if she knew I was a mongoloid (I wasn't but I was the poster child for mongolism and took Special Ed classes because the schools got extra funding in the 1970's). She was too busy throwing beer bottles, plates and pots at my head when she got drunk. Like many asshats on Slashdot, she also thought I was piece of shit that came out of the wrong hole. My life improved substantially when I stopped listening to my mother.

Kid is shocked and amazed, and concludes that it must be some double-recessive mutant gene that makes him fat, not his lifestyle choices.

Everyone in my family is skinny except for me. Either I'm biggest fuck up in the family or I have a "double-recessive mutant gene" that makes me big (not fat).

I'm there with you bro, for sure.

Thank you!

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[whoever57]

No, my genetics chose that I should be fat.

Or perhaps it's the flora in your gut.

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm going to continue what I've always done:

Fail at life?

I ate the exact same food that my parents' ate. My older brother is skinny and he ate the same food as I did. But he weighed five pounds at birth. I weighed ten pounds at birth.

"eating the exact same food that my parents ate" says nothing about the quantity that you're eating. If they eat one snickers bar a week, and you eat 70 snickers bars a week, you're still "eating the exact same food," but you're eating far more *of it*. Your birth weight has virtually NOTHING to do with your eventual weight as an adult. Try harder, try hard.

(I wasn't but I was the poster child for mongolism and took Special Ed classes because the schools got extra funding in the 1970's).

So Downs Syndrome is an easy diagnosis, presumably they ruled it out. What IS your diagnosis, then? I'm guessing it's some sort of trisomy, still.

Either I'm biggest fuck up in the family

Ding ding ding ding ding! We have a winner!

or I have a "double-recessive mutant gene" that makes me big (not fat).

Sorry, try again. You were right on your first guess.

Re:Echo Cam Now Makes Sense

[Anonymous Coward]

Which is largely affected by what you choose to eat. So, again... it's not his genes.

Making customers happy?

[InfiniteBlaze]

So then they're not doing ads? Make up your mind, Amazon!

Amazon has lost it's way

[evolutionary]

Amazon was great when it was just into selling books at the best prices. Now it's into market fixing, misleading people through skewed ads and search results, and stealing markets from people naive enough to use their services to make a store only to have Amazon take over the same market once it sees it's profitable. Looking at their prices and tools they are clear trying to manipulate markets in favors of sellers (aka companies selling) who then in turn buy their advertising/marketing services. And with the new server service, the data Amazon is mining now, it's trying to rival Google, and given Google's cross over into the category of "evil" through it's data collection , well, there is a new movie "The Circle" that may spell all this out. Google and Amazon are most likely going to be in direct competitors to each other soon. I truly hope to see someone compete with Amazon working with the consumers again. Would be a nice touch. It won't be Ebay who is basically doing the same thing.

Re:Amazon has lost it's way

[kelemvor4]

misleading people through skewed ads and search results

Eh? Does amazon have a search engine now?

Re:Amazon has lost it's way

[Oswald McWeany]

Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook;

They all intercept each other's business models in multiple ways. This isn't any real major diversion from the plot.

Re:Amazon has lost it's way

[Dutch Gun]

Yes, at Amazon.com, though obviously its only limited to searching for their products (which is practically everything). They display "sponsored results" that look just like the results you were searching for. It got so annoying that I configured some special rules in adblock-origin to strip out some of that crap, so I don't even know if they still do that.

I spend a lot of money at Amazon. It's really annoying that they feel they need to monetize my eyeballs as well.

Re:Amazon has lost it's way

[Anonymous Coward]

They display "sponsored results" that look just like the results you were searching for.

Except for the "sponsored results" tag in the corner, of course.

Placement of those is based on keywords and a bidding system. I don't know about non-book products, but for books the publisher (or indie) chooses the keywords (or uses Amazon recommendations) and an algorithm picks what's placed partially based on what is bid for the slot. If an ad campaign is getting lousy results (because the ad is appearing in searches totally inappropriate to the product), the algorithm will start rejecting those ads.

Ideally, it's an "if you're interested in X, you might also like Y" kind of thing. This probably makes more sense with books (since every one is different) than with physical stuff. If I'm looking for a book to read (or movie to watch), being able to search on a title I know I already like and find similar stuff is a plus (and which generic search algorithms are going to be bad ad). On the other hand, if I'm searching for, say, a particular kind of cable, that's the kind of thing generic search algorithms are good at, and I probaby don't need an ad for a TeknoGizmatic cable organizing system.

    I hate ads as much as the next guy, but those sponsored results are down at the bottom of the list, and easily ignored.

Re:Amazon has lost it's way

[Anonymous Coward]

Amazon owns A9 which operates a search engine. This subsidiary also does search related analytics and advertising. Amazon.com has had some form of sponsored adverting for the last 15 years.

Re:Amazon has lost it's way

[swillden]

misleading people through skewed ads and search results

Eh? Does amazon have a search engine now?

They own the very best search engine, from an advertiser's perspective. One that people use to find stuff to buy.

Re:Amazon has lost it's way

[evolutionary]

Yes, at the highest prices/benefit that Amazon can sell. (without getting slapped on the wrist by regulators of course..there was a Canadian slap on the wrist earlier: http://business.financialpost.... )

Re:Amazon has lost it's way

[swillden]

Yes, at the highest prices/benefit that Amazon can sell.

Is there any retailer that doesn't sell for the highest prices they can get? To do otherwise is stupid.

there was a Canadian slap on the wrist earlier

You should read your link. The "slap" had nothing to do with Amazon's prices.

lost a Prime customer

[turkeydance]

since i will not willingly pay for ads

Re:lost a Prime customer

[Anonymous Coward]

you're already "paying for ads" with prime, whether you realize it or not. most the links you see to products and categories you see on their site are driven by their data on you.. designed to maximize sales from you for those items... and its not necessarily the 'best prices' but rather what will net them the highest profits.

Re:lost a Prime customer

[swillden]

since i will not willingly pay for ads

What do you think the "picks for you" on the Amazon home page are? Targeted ads. Always have been, and even before Prime existed.

More SPAM

[Rick Schumann]

So, more SPAM in everyones' inbox? Glad I deleted my Amazon account a while back when they had a security breach, then.

amazon

[Anonymous Coward]

prepare to be sheared sheople

I think it is a good thing...

[Anonymous Coward]

..just to look at it from another perspective. The advertising industry definitely needs more fragmentation and not less. So the more players there are the better the products/services we will get. I think that applies to all industries. If there is a company that can take on Google at its own game, Amazon would be my first pick.
They have been seeing some very steady growth in the last 5 years and look pretty healthy. https://www.google.com/finance?q=SWX:AMZN

Advertising is a crazy business, you need to attract people to your product/service without pissing them off, and it is very easy to step over that line. IMHO quietly/decently is always the best approach.

Re:I think it is a good thing...

[__aaclcg7560]

Advertising is a crazy business, you need to attract people to your product/service without pissing them off, and it is very easy to step over that line.

Pissing off asshats on Slashdot has led to a significant increase of traffic to my personal blog and other websites. I'm on track to earn an extra $75+ in ad revenues for this month.

Re:I think it is a good thing...

[OYAHHH]

Master, Teach me. Haven't used /. in a long time. Is it possible to keep one's karma high while pissing people off? Or is it still necessary. Or do you just damn the torpedoes and go full steam ahead?

Re:I think it is a good thing...

[__aaclcg7560]

Is it possible to keep one's karma high while pissing people off?

I've been on Slashdot since 1999. I got so much karma that it'll take me years to piss away.

Re:I think it is a good thing...

[OYAHHH]

Roger that. Preciate it.

Based upon our ID numbers it looks to me like I been on ./ a bit longer than you. Been away for about 5 years now. But never built up any real karma while I was here. I always thought I couldn't get more than N number karma points. A hard ceiling if you will. Hmmm.

Regardless, I probably don't have enough karma to last me more than a week.

I did read your blog a bit. Saw your commentary about the FAQ and how it brought a lot of traffic to you. At least that is my interpretation.

My gut tells me it really would not matter if my karma was bad. Swatting asshats, as you call them, down to size will get you attention.

Re:I think it is a good thing...

[__aaclcg7560]

Swatting asshats, as you call them, down to size will get you attention.

"Swatting" is when you call the police to send over the SWAT team in a prank call to disrupt someone's life. You can think about doing it but I wouldn't recommend doing it.

Re:I think it is a good thing...

[OYAHHH]

Eh, My mind is other places today. Thanks for the patience.

Re:I think it is a good thing...

[__aaclcg7560]

Eh, My mind is other places today. Thanks for the patience.

I know that feeling. I got 30+ people jabbering in my headset on a conference call that doesn't really concern me. But something might roll downhill and I'll need to shovel it up.

That's a shame

[Anonymous Coward]

While I think Amazon's products are a joke (really, you shouldn't be buying things with an Amazon logo on them) it's an otherwise respectable company. They are the web store.. for just about anything now (remember when it was just certain types of things? Remember when it was books?). They do that job very well. They are Wal-Mart level awesomeness, except with good things for sale, instead of Wal-Mart's junk or (sometimes) low-priced commodities.

They also have their interesting AWS service. I don't use it, but a lot of people speak highly of it.

They're mostly a good-looking company. And now it looks like all that is about to be flushed away. Will I still be able to trust the store once I know that the company is definitely trying to deceive me? Less. Can't say if I'll stop buying from them, but getting into ads is at least going to get me into looking for other stores.

Re:That's a shame

[Oswald McWeany]

When you do a google search, a couple of ad results normally float to the top. I imagine what Amazon is planning is something similar. You look for shoes and perhaps Clarks has a deal with Amazon to bring their shoes to the top.

As long as they clearly mark the ad as an ad, this won't drive me away from doing business with them. (they already have an ad section on a product page where similar sponsored products appear).

If the ads get any more invasive, I will certain switch. It's not like you can go into Walmart and avoid advertising. Sponsored deal end-caps and floating areas. Walk into Best Buy and you'll see the giant Samsung shrine that Samsung paid BB to set up.

Re:That's a shame

[pr0fessor]

When I buy a tablet I would prefer not to have to pay extra to get it without adware pre-installed like the fire tablet.

Re:That's a shame

[Oswald McWeany]

When I buy a tablet I would prefer not to have to pay extra to get it without adware pre-installed like the fire tablet.

So would I, so would everyone.

Truth is though, the existence of the ad-supported tablet probably doesn't greatly affect the price of the ad-free tablet. If the ad-supported tablet didn't exist I don't think many people would be complaining about the cost of the ad-free tablet; it is priced competitively with other similar quality build/feature models.

They didn't bump the price of the ad-free model- they put a discount on the ad model because they expected to make more than the $20 difference selling advertising to your eyes over the life of the product. They forwent revenue today for more revenue in the future.

If you don't want Amazon to buy the rights to force feed you ads on a tablet, don't buy the ad supported tablet, buy the regularly priced one.

Re:That's a shame

[pr0fessor]

Today, but I worry that tomorrow that won't be an option, you'll pay premium price for adware pre-installed with no option to remove it. Kind of like cable I pay a subscription fee {actually I don't have cable anymore} and then get blasted with advertising anyway.

Re:That's a shame

[Oswald McWeany]

Today, but I worry that tomorrow that won't be an option, you'll pay premium price for adware pre-installed with no option to remove it. Kind of like cable I pay a subscription fee {actually I don't have cable anymore} and then get blasted with advertising anyway.

It's possible, but it would have to be at an Operating System level. Right now there are literally dozens of companies branding their own tablets, no-one could get away with it easily.

Operating systems there are only 2 big players (3 if you count MS). Forced ads would most likely be introduced at the OS level if at all. (or by an ISP hijacking your connection)

It's about that time

[nightfire-unique]

A company gets to a point where they're so successful, they just have to jump the shark and ruin their success.

Becoming hostile* towards your most loyal customers seems like a pretty good way to do that.

* Advertising is inherently hostile; if a user asks for a recommendation, that is not advertising.

Re:It's about that time

[Anonymous Coward]

if a user asks for a recommendation, that is not advertising.

Which is what most "ads" on Amazon are. Also bought, if you liked X you might like Y, and so on. Amazon goes to a lot of trouble to fine tune its ads, er, recommendations. (Certainly more trouble than most other web store sites.)

They're also pretty good on cracking down on scammers who try to game Amazon's systems (although it may take a while sometimes). They know that in the long run, pissing off customers loses sales faster than letting shady marketers run wild gains them.

Re:It's about that time

[Anonymous Coward]

if a user asks for a recommendation, that is not advertising.

Which is what most "ads" on Amazon are

Buying something on Amazon is not asking for a recommendation for something else.

*scratches head*

[Harold Halloway]

When I go to Amazon.co.uk, their front-page is one long advert, or rather a large number of small adverts. Every page I visit is full of adverts for other products. It's been like this for a long time, so I'm scratching my head to understand why people might think that Amazon displaying adverts might suddenly be a problem when it clearly hasn't been previously.

This is why I quit using U-Bid.com!

[pecosdave]

I thought if they were making money from me when I bought crap off of their site they could hold back on the advertising.

Also Amazon has been advertising - in non-invasive ways - for years.

Jeff Bezos sucked my balls

[Anonymous Coward]

Then her stuck his thumb up my ass and jerked me off. Definitely the weirdest interview I've ever had. He told me he'd call me back and let me know if I got the job. A couple weeks later, they emailed me that I didn't get the job because I wasn't a good "culture fit". WTF?!?!

Amazon Look ads

[Anonymous Coward]

Hello, we see from your Amazon Look account that you have a small penis. We can recommend these solutions.

Shockingly enough, sponsored products aren't any g

[Presence Eternal]

Run a fakespot.com check on any of Amazon's piece of shit "sponsored" products and you'll find every single one engages in deceitful review manipulation. I guarantee it. With uh...internet points.

I use pihole on my nas, opendns, and ublock origin, and fakespot is still my most useful tool when shopping.

Advertisers, like The Who/Elton John?

[Anonymous Coward]

See subject: "How do you think he does it?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DthtDjhqVOU/

* He's scoring more. He's SCORING MORE... lol!

APK

P.S.=> Get that straight - y'hear?... apk

Beginning of the end

[Anonymous Coward]

If anyone ever wonders why Amazon went under, look here for what happened. You think they might have learned something from the dying cable industry.
The day Amazon decided to stop innovating and start advertising, was the end.

Amazon meet APK (to your dismay)

[Anonymous Coward]

See subject & APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-7 32/64-bit https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&biw=&bih=&q=%22APK+Hosts+File+Engine%22+and+%22start64%22&btnG=Google+Search&gbv=1/

Ads/script & malware rob speed/security/privacy

Hosts add speed (via hardcodes/adblocks), security (vs. bad sites/malware/poisoned dns), reliability (vs. dns down), & anonymity (vs. dns requestlogs/trackers).

Less power/cpu/ram + IO use vs. DNS/routers/addons/antivirus + less security bugs/complexity & faster vs. addons/routers/remote dns!

Avoids DNSChangers in routers/IP settings & dns redirects (99.999% of ISP DNS != patched vs. it) + lightens DNS load & resolves faster from local system RAM!

* Via what u NATIVELY have in the IP stack in FASTER kernelmode!

APK

P.S. - Safe https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/e01211ca36aa02e923f20adee0a3c4f5d5187dc65bdf1c997b3da3c2b0745425/analysis/1433430542/